


Like Father, like son

by Cryzice



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Omega Jason Todd, Omega Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:07:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23512102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cryzice/pseuds/Cryzice
Summary: One day on patrol, Jason comes across a familiar scene - two young kids screaming at their parents’ dead bodies.
Relationships: Hinted Jason Todd/Dick Grayson, Jim Gordon & Jason Todd
Comments: 9
Kudos: 318
Collections: omega Jason Todd week 2020





	Like Father, like son

**Author's Note:**

> first entry for Jason Todd Omega Week 2020, wosh. 
> 
> Day One/6th of April: Lactation/breastfeeding | Jason presents post-Lazarus | Reverse Robins
> 
> There's like no actual mentions of this even being an omega-verse until the end, which is why I wrote another one I will publish as well.

There are some things Jason never wants to see for the rest of however long his life ends up. 

The list includes: Dick wearing his Discowing suit again; the demon-brat trying, and failing, to not cry when Dick accidentally called him “pup” for the first time ever; Tim, Steph and Cass all passed out in one of the manor’s many, many couches after a movie still wearing their suits (Alfred was away, or he would never have let them go upside in their suits); any of his friends (and pack) pale and unresponsive (will probably happen again, and again, and  _ again _ , but that’s just how their lives are); and at the very, very bottom of the list, kids crying over their dead parents’ bodies.

Unfortunately, it is a too common occurrence for all of them. 

Jason had just meant to go for a walk after waking up from a nightmare. He had not meant to see the robber just slip away into the shadows, and he had definitely not meant to run into the alley to see if there was still someone to save.

The last thing he expected was to come across this scene.

The parents, lying in a pool of blood, the husband trying to shield his wife with his own body, the wife with her eyes wide-open, while their two kids were crying and screaming. The youngest was even still in the stroller, for fuck’s sake.

What kind of monster was willing to kill someone in front of their kids? In Gotham, way too many. 

For a second, Jason considers just backing out and pretending he didn’t see anything. He could call the cops from one of the (miraculously) still working payphones and let them deal with everything. The kids could get adopted by a nice family - there are lots of good foster families that would love to raise a baby -, or they could end up being adopted by one of the bad foster families and be beaten and starved and only kept around for the paycheck.

(Or he could call B or Dick or Steph. They would come and swoop the kids up in no time, and if they happen to have dark hair and blue eyes, B would probably adopt them faster than a Flash could finish one of Alfred’s pies - but… for some reason, that’s not an option. Dick and Steph would just take them to B, and that’s a situation he would rather avoid. B has enough kids he doesn’t pay enough attention to. Adding another two, especially a toddler and a baby, is too much.) 

Then the baby starts to cry for real, loud sobs that quite frankly sound incredible painful, and Jason just can’t leave them here, not like this, not ever.

Cursing himself for being such a bleeding heart (in his head, of course; he’s not going to swear in front of two kids), Jason (nervously) steps into the alley. 

The older kid is sitting on the ground next to his parents, his tiny fists pulling at his mother’s dress desperately, crying louder and louder the longer she didn’t respond. 

In a moment of what must be pure insanity (had to happen sooner or later, right?), Jason calls out to the older kid. “Hey, kid, what’s wrong?” 

And promptly cringes at what has to be the stupidest thing to say ever, and he knows some people who have said incredibly stupid things at the wrong moment. 

Fortunately, it does catch the kid’s attention. When the kid turns around to face Jason, his face illuminated by the light from the nearest street light, Jason is surprised to see that the kid looks oddly similar to B - a bit too similar, in fact. 

God, that just had to his luck. The one time he stumbles onto this kind of scene, and the kid looks like he could be Damian’s brother. The only way it could get worse is if they turn out to be B’s kids, but that is impossible. Credit where credit’s due, B is extremely careful the few times he actually sleeps with someone, and if by some chance he did get someone pregnant, it would be in the news in 10 minutes flat. 

-”Mum”, is the only word that comes out of the kid’s mouth. 

In a different time and different place, that was him, clutching Catherine’s wrist with everything he had, even knowing that she was gone and wasn’t going to come back this time. It had felt like years, but he couldn’t have stayed there for more than a few hours before realizing that he had to go, before someone found her and called the cops. 

Some days, it still hurts. In a way, he never got over it. She was his mum, the only mum he knew, and she chose drugs over him. There’s a space inside of him that has been empty ever since she died. B tried to fill it, but ultimately, he fell so short in the end. Talia couldn’t seem to decide whether she wanted to fill that role or just be a guide, but her time passed the second she tried to harm her own kid. 

If he could turn back time just by half an hour, he would, just to save these kids from having to know that pain. Where is a Flash when you need them? Not be in Gotham, that’s for sure.

With an aching (bleeding) heart, Jason steps over a puddle of the mum’s wife and sinks down on his knees just a short distance from the kid, careful to not be too close in case the kid spooks and runs off.

This close up, he can see that the mum had beautiful red hair, although cut short, completely different from either Roy or Kori, but still similar enough to remind him of two of his best friends. There’s a cruelty in the reminder that they haven’t spoken in over two months and he still thinks of them as his best friends. 

As slowly as possible, Jason grabs the kid’s hand and carefully loosens the kid’s hold on his mother’s dress. The cloth is soaked in blood and whatever water still remains on the concrete after yesterday’s rain. He will have to scrub his hands really thoroughly once he’s back home to get rid off all the red that sticks to his hands. 

-”Everything will be okay, I promise”, Jason says lamely, for a lack of anything else to offer. “What’s your name, buddy?”

The kid stares up at him with the shiniest eyes. Unexpectedly, Jason can kind of understand why B has adopted so many kids if they look up at him like this - like he can fix this, undo what has happened, turn back time somehow. Well, where is a Flash when you need one? Not around, that’s for sure. 

Eventually, after a long minute, the kid opens his tiny mouth. “Terry,” he says hoarsely. “I’m going to be eight next month”.

That’s way too damn early to lose one’s parents. Even Dick was older than that when his parents died. 

-”Terry, huh? And your brother? What’s his name?”

Terry seems to waver. “Matt,” he eventually says, but there’s a slight hesitation, as if something has told him to not give out his name to strangers. In a normal city, that would make sense; in Gotham, no one above the age of five freely gives out their name to strangers. Too many kidnappers and the like. 

Jason had learnt that lesson the hard way.

Well, if nothing else, Terry has got some guts in him. That’s promising at least. The more guts you have, the less likely other boys are to attack you unless they think they have a chance. Another lesson Jason learnt the hard way.

-”They’re strong names, Terry and Matt,” Jason says, only slightly tongue-tied. “My name is Jason. I live in the neighbourhood, just around the corner.”

Outwardly, Terry doesn’t seem terribly affected, but if anything, he’s probably still in shock. At any other time, he would probably have started running a long time ago. Jason would have, in this kind of situation.

There’s something incredibly creepy about this whole situation. If anyone else had seen him, they would probably think he was an opportunistic kidnapper, and Jason wouldn’t blame them one second. Jason has probably never felt more sleazy in his entire life, and he’s done some sleazy things.

-”Are we also going to die as? Terry asks, to Jason’s great surprise. “Is the man going to come back and kill us too?”

Of all the questions in the world, that is not one Jason had expected to hear today. How is he even supposed to answer that? Why did he think going out without his armour was a good idea? Things like this always happened when he’s not wearing his armour. By now, he should be prepared for these kinds of shitty situations.

Where the hell is B when Jason really needs him? So fucking typical. 

Jason tries to smile reassuredly, but it probably comes out really crooked and uncomfortable. “No, kid, you’re not,” he says, squeezing Terry’s tiny fists. “If the man comes back, I will kick his ass all the way to the other side of town, okay? Promise”.

In most normal situations, an eight-year-old would probably say that “ass” is a bad word, but Terry doesn’t seem bothered at all. Maybe his parents were more lenient than Alfred is - even Bruce isn’t allowed to swear so long Alfred is around, and it’s supposed to be his house. 

-”Pinky-promise?” Terry asks quietly, trying to lift his pinky with Jason’s hands still wrapped around Terry’s.

This time, Jason’s smile is a bit more genuine. “Pinky-promise,” he says, letting go Terry’s hands to wiggle his left hand’s pinky. 

Apparently it’s trustworthy enough for Terry, who slumps together as if all the air has gone out of him, hiding his face in Jason’s T-shirt. “I want to go home,” he says, the words muffled almost to the point of being entirely smothered by the cheap linen.

Jason awkwardly wraps his arm around Terry, trying to not squeeze the kid too hard, and pulls out one of his uncountable disposable cell phones, typing in a number that he memorized upwards of seven years ago, offered as a sort of peace-keeping gift from a cop to a kid who hates the police.

Gordon answers on the third try. “Commissioner Gordon, Gotham Police Department,” he recites groggily, probably on his fourth cup of coffee already judging by the thickness of his voice.

-”Commish, I’ve got a small problem I’m hoping you can help me with,” Jason begins, for once not bothering to disguise his voice. “There’s been a double homicide, couple with two kids. The parents are dead, the kids are not.”

Gordon swears under his breath. “Where?” he simply asks, too used to it to ask for more information. 

-”Alley in North Narrows, a block east from Sandy’s Diner. The older kid is eight, the younger probably around one or so. Shooter ran away before I got here. Probably a man, but hard to tell,” Jason says dutifully. “The kids are in shock, but otherwise fine.”

-”Well, that’s some good news, I suppose,” Gordon grunts. “I really hate that alley. Nothing good has ever come out of that place.”

Yeah, there’s no way he can mistake this alley for any other alley. This is where everything began: the alley where Thomas and Martha Wayne were shot dead many, many years ago. The symbolism is striking.

A moment later, Jason hears the sound of a door being pulled shut. From here to the police station is about eight minutes if there’s no major traffic and no red lights. Eights minutes to comfort a kid who just lost his parents and might lose even more before this day ends.

There’s no place like Gotham.

In the end, it takes closer to ten minutes for Gordon to show up, looking too old to be working this late with his messy, grey hair and beard. When Jason had first startled out as Robin, Gordon had just gotten his first grey hairs. One time, Gordon had joker that he only got them because of ”Robin”.

By now, there are only the odd strands that have not turned grey.

Gordon’s most recent (temporary) partner is some half-baked rookie who still looks too fresh out of the police academy and skips more than walks. They have a bet in the family how long he will last; Jason put down two weeks, Dick two months at most. It’s only been two days since he started working as a police officer.

From what they’ve seen, he’s smart enough to let Gordon do all the talking and actual detective work. 

-”You the guy who called?”Gordon asks, coming up to stand an arm’s length away from Jason, already fingering a pack of cigarettes that he shouldn’t have. 

In one word, he looks exhausted, and he hasn’t been here for longer than a minute.

From what Dick has heard from Barbara, Gordon has been trying to cut down on at least some of his overtime work for an hour more of sleep every night. At his age, Gordon should really have retired or trained a successor to take over, but there’s no one in line that has shown to be trustworthy enough. 

There are a few good ones, but most of them have accepted bribes in the past or been involved in “suspicious circumstances”, aka been accused of a crime and bribed or threatened their way out of a punishment. 

-”That would be me, yeah,” Jason says. “I was just about to pop down to the store for a small snack when I heard screaming. Shooter ran past just as I got down to see what all the noise was for. Found this one trying to wake up his mum. It didn’t work”. 

Gordon shakes his head, fumbling with pulling out a cigarette from the package. “All the workshops and warning in the world about the dangers of crossing through alleys, and people just keep doing it. They never think they will become a statistic.”

Rookie cop nods. “One of my mum’s neighbours always told her kids to never cross through an alley. The one time they did, it contained a canister of Joker gas. They spent eleven months in a coma in Gotham Hospital before they passed away. Family moved to Metropolis the next week.”

-”Ain’t that the truth,” Jason agrees. “Somedays it would be better to just burn everything down and start all over, but people aren’t willing to take the chance.”

Finally, Gordon has managed to pull out a cigarette and in an ironic twist, lit it with a Batman lighter. “Well, what’s the plan then, kid?” he asks. “I’ve got the numbers of every social worker in all of Gotham, but by now, there’s not going to be an open spot anywhere.”

Well, there is one spot that is always open, but Jason really isn’t planning on asking B unless it is absolutely necessary. Dick would probably offer to help out as well, but he isn’t an approved foster parent.

But Jason is, since about two weeks ago. Roy had some kind of mid-life crisis and wondered who would take care of Lian if he died in one of his experiments, so he went around to all his friends and asked if anyone would be willing to step up. Garth and Wally already has kids, so they had no problem offering. Donna had apparently choked up and nearly cried, but ultimately said yes. 

Roy didn’t ask Dick - Roy asked Jason. 

And Jason had, against his better judgement, said yes. Five months after setting up a semi-plausible identity with no connection to the Bat-pack or the Red Hood, Peter Harper, a previously unknown cousin, had been approved as a foster parent. 

In all honesty, Jason never thought he would need to be a foster parent. If anyone was going to die first, out of the two of them, it would be Jason, not Roy. He even tried to tell Roy that, but Roy insisted, and Jason just went with it. 

-”I’m a registered foster parent,” Jason says, his throat feeling very tight all of a sudden. “My friend realized he’s human and made me promise I would raise his daughter if he died. So yeah, I can take them for the night.”

Gordon gives him a funny look. “For the night, huh? Careful, or you’re going to end up with two snooty brats taking over your life.” Judging by the smallest of tugs at Gordon’s left side, he’s trying very hard not to smile.

At this point, the odds are not looking good for Jason. Terry’s pretty much already grown on him, and he hasn’t known him for more than half an hour. 

He promised himself he wouldn’t be like B, and look where he is, caught off guard by a crying kid who looks too much like his adoptive father for comfort. 

-”Yeah, I know what that’s like,” Jason says at last. “I was adopted once.”

Gordon nods absentmindedly. “Then you know what to do and what not to do. Well, I will need a look at your ID, and then I suppose you should go down to the shop to pick up some baby stuff.”

Jason is just about to reach for his ID when he remembers that he has got blood all over his hands. “It’s in my jacket pocket, “he says. “Got any wipes for the blood?”

Rookie pulls an entire packet of wipes out nowhere like he was prepared for just this question. “My teacher at the academy told me to always bring wipes,” he explains at Jason and Gordon’s surprised looks. “You never know when you will need it.”

As soon as Jason gets home, he is going to change his bet. Apparently, he has underestimated Rookie. Maybe he should even learn Rookie’s name for a change.

Jason grabs a few wipes, struggling to hold up Terry with just one hand before he finds a way. In the end, it takes about half a dozen wipes to get his hands and Terry’s somewhat clean. To Jason’s further surprise, Rookie even helped him clean Terry’s hands without being asked. Judging by Gordon’s surprised face, he hadn’t known about this side of his new partner.

Maybe this one is a good one, or at least has the potential to be. Dick is going to be so smug it’s going to be unbearable.

Once Jason has shown the real-ish ID to Gordon and gotten the okay, Jason has to navigate the baby carrier - containing an exhausted baby Matt who seems to have cried himself to sleep at some point - out of the alley without getting blood all over it and push it down the street to the 24-shop. 

The nice shop assistant who doesn’t look a day older than seventeen is more than happy to help him pick up the necessities and even helpfully points out the baby bag. She even updates his outdated knowledge about handling babies and corrects his grip on Terry. 

By the end, he has two stuffed bags of baby stuff, the basic food supplies to cook a few meals and a toy Nightwing that is apparently very popular among kids of all ages. He even has to throw out some stuff from his fridge to make enough space for everything.

There wasn’t a crib at the store, so he makes a very rudimentary one using a drawer, an extra pillow he has lying around and the fluffiest towel he has in the bathroom. Tomorrow he will have to get something better, but for now, it will do. 

Matt doesn’t wake up when Jason transfers him from the baby carrier to the home-made crib, clutching the Nightwing toy close with one hand.

When Jason is sure Matt isn’t going to wake up, he gets Terry from the couch, pulling off his shoes before putting him in the middle of the bed, then rearranges the kid to lie on his chest. 

Before he falls asleep, he texts Dick to let the family know he will be going no-contact for a week for a case and sends Roy a picture of a sleeping Terry. The next morning, Roy has sent over twenty messages asking way too many questions at once.

When Gordon calls him down to the station to answer some questions and meet the social worker responsible for Terry and Matt, he already knows that he is going to adopt them. Essentially, he has picked up the one habit he swore he wouldn’t copy from B, but for once, it doesn’t bother him as much as he thought. 

When Jason wakes up in the middle of the night two weeks later to find himself leaking breastmilk, he finds that he isn’t actually all that surprised. The rest of the pack will freak out enough for him.

(Dick appears the very next day, worried that the Red Hood hasn’t been seen for two weeks, and almost has a heart attack when he sees two tiny boys in Jason’s apartment. When Jason explains everything, he has tears in his eyes and promptly offers to help out any way Jason will let him. 

(When Thomas and Johnny are born three years later, it’s only natural to let Terry and Matt be the first to hold them. Terry tearfully promises to protect them the same way he protects Matt, and Matt happily gives them a Nightwing and a Red Hood toy each.) 


End file.
